Volvo Cars looks to avoid tariffs on Chinese-made EVs with pricing agreement
Volvo Cars hopes to avoid hefty tariffs when importing its China-made electric vehicles into Europe by reaching an agreement on pricing, the company and the Swedish government said on Friday, boosting the carmaker's shares.
The European Commission said on Friday it had received enough support in a vote of EU members to impose tariffs of up to 45 per cent on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles, but would continue talks with China.
Also check these Cars
Sweden, the home of Volvo Cars, had said earlier it would abstain and that it hoped a deal could be reached to limit the impact of possible tariffs on the firm, which is majority-owned by China's Geely.
Also Read : Setback for Chinese EVs – EU votes in favour of imposing 45 per cent tariffs
Shares in Volvo Cars jumped in early trade, rising as much as four per cent. They were up 3.0 per cent at 0952 GMT.
"We have had very positive signals just recently from the Commission that they hopefully could go ahead with individual solutions for the auto industry and for Volvo Cars specifically," he said.
“It is basically Sweden's line that the best thing would be that China and the EU together can come to an agreement in relation to this problem."
Also Read : New US rule would require GM and Ford to halt made-in-China car imports
Sweden also abstained in a first non-binding vote on the European Commission's proposed tariffs in July.
"We can confirm that the Commission has offered to continue discussions with all parties that have submitted price undertakings and we remain available to the Commission on their enquires on the matter," a spokesperson for Volvo Cars said.
"We will not comment further at this stage."
Suggested watch: Check range, features and specs of Skoda's new EV for India
Volvo Cars previously said its EX30 would be the only model affected by the tariffs. The carmaker plans to start producing the model in Ghent, Belgium, during the first half of 2025.
Geely faced a tariff of 18.8 per cent on its EVs shipped to Europe.
Geely Holding, which owns stakes in automakers Polestar and Volvo Cars, said on Friday it was disappointed by the European Commission's plan to impose tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, saying it could hinder economic and trade relations.
The European Union has cut the proposed tariffs for Tesla cars imported from China several times after a request from the US EV maker for its own negotiated rate.
Check out Upcoming EV Cars in India.